Cusco Tower Brace and a Plasti Dip for the EX35

[AWGD8]

I had a hard time deciding which one to get, a Cusco front strut bar or a GT-specs. Both actually comes in blue color only and I did not like the blue at all. My original plan was to strip the blue paint and buy a 2000 degrees F exhaust or paint caliper at Walmart. I got lazy since, the strut base has so many angles and would take me forever to strip the blue paint. Finally, I found the plasti dip and here it is on a Cusco front tower brace.




I normally remove the engine cover when the season is averaging at 65+ degrees F. During the winter, I put the cover back since the engine needs to warm up quickly at operating temp. Never had a problem last summer when I had the engine cover removed.


BTW, this is the first time I cleaned the engine bay after 6 long years! Just make sure engine cover is on when cleaning.

Bought these cleaners at Walmart. I highly recommend it!

[jrmotorsports55]

Looks good!

Jason

[AWGD8]

Thanks Jason!

[mk15]

So shiny. That's great looking!

Does taking the engine cover off help at all?
Over here it is constantly +90F and +80% humidity.

[AWGD8]

Thanks MK15!

It definitely helps to cool the engine down with the cover remove. I noticed that last summer when I park in the garage with the engine cover on. Even after shutting the engine down and closed the garage door, the heat still builds up and the cover is hot to the touch. If I had to go back to the garage after 10-15 mins, the whole garage is pretty warm. BTW, I noticed that bec. I always pop the hood when I park in the garage.

Now, the same summer with cover off. After shutting the engine down, I could touch the top of the black intake manifold with no problem. Also, the garage does not get warm when I popped the hood when I park.

Just an FYI, there are 2 rectangular covers behind (upper side area) of the radiator that open and close when you reach a certain speed, and brings in a fresh air to the engine bay. These holes cools the engine down while driver too! (Not only the coolant cooling it ). So with no cover, the fresh air goes directly to the engine block or top manifold with nothing to block it from.
These holes might not open at lower speed, bec. I drove the car yesterday while it was raining and the engine bay was still shinny and clean. I was just driving less than 40MPH. At certain high speed driving these holes directs fresh air from the outside bec. airflow is fast enough to open those 2 rectangular cover behind the top radiator.

Check it out yourself.

Dirver side




Passenger side



And BTW, i missed cleaning these spots...

[mk15]

Will do. I just need to find my temp loggers and I'll stuff it into the engine bay to run some tests.

[EXceptional]

How easy is it to remove the engine cover... and replace?

[AWGD8]

Removing the engine cover is pretty easy, just 5x (10mm nuts) Just be careful with the 2 front cap nuts, which come with small metal sleeves. Just make sure you dont drop it. Those metal sleeves prevent the front cover from over tightening or cover to sit pretty low than the rear side.